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Under a ceasefire agreement that many hope will finally turn the page on the two-year war, Israel is preparing to exchange approximately 2,000 palestinian 48 hostage-takers – some alive, some dead – are still held there Gaza Strip,
There is a strong resonance on both sides of the release. For IsraelThey are extremely painful, as some of those released have been convicted of attacks that killed civilians and soldiers. For Palestinians, the prisoner issue is the most politically significant, with almost every Palestinian having a friend or family member jailed by Israel, especially young men. While Israel views them as terrorists, many Palestinians regard the prisoners as freedom fighters protesting decades of Israeli military occupation.
In previous exchanges, both sides have sought to strictly manage releases – including images, clothing and celebrations – due to their political sensitivities.
The 2,000 include about 1,700 of the thousands of Palestinians whom Israeli troops seized from Gaza during the 2-year war and hold without charge.
Those set for release include 250 Palestinians serving prison sentences, most of whom have been convicted of murder and terrorism in deadly attacks. Israel According to Israel’s Justice Ministry, the men, decades older, as well as others, have been convicted on lesser charges. The longest serving among them has been in prison for almost 40 years.
How will the Palestinians be released?
Israel’s prison service said it was preparing prisoners held in two prisons – Ofer near Jerusalem and Ketzyot in the southern Negev desert.
Israeli government spokesman Shosh Bedrosian said on Sunday that the release would follow the release of the surviving hostages.
People seized from Gaza during the war will be returned there. Some of the 250 convicted Palestinians will return home to East Jerusalem or the West Bank or Gaza, while most will be sent into exile in Gaza or abroad.
Palestinians gathered on Monday morning at viewpoints on the hills overlooking Ofer prison, where some detainees and prisoners are expected to be freed. While eagerly waiting for his friends and relatives, he drank coffee and said he hoped the agreement could pave the way towards peace.
An armored Israeli vehicle drove up the hill from the prison and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at one side of the hill. As the drone buzzed overhead, the crowd dispersed. The tear gas followed the distribution of a flyer warning that anyone supporting “terrorist organizations” risked arrest.
“You have been warned,” read the flyer, which the AP obtained at the site.
A Palestinian Authority official and the family of a prisoner told the AP that Israel has warned people in the West Bank against celebrating — as has often happened in previous releases. In areas where prisoners’ families live, Israeli forces distributed leaflets warning that “anyone who participates in such activities will face punishment and arrest,” the official said. The Associated Press reviewed a copy of the flyer.
Israel’s military did not respond to questions about the flyer or the sanctions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, and the family because they feared reprisals. Israel’s military did not respond to questions about the restrictions or warnings.
who’s on the list
The rapid developments since last week’s ceasefire agreement have left questions about who will be freed until the last minute. Israel released a list of about 250 convicted prisoners it would release, but Hamas demanded changes. Early Monday, Hamas published the names of more than 1,900 prisoners and detainees it said were to be released, although Israel did not confirm the list.
Israel has provided little information about the 1,700 people to be freed from Gaza. Israeli forces detained thousands of Palestinians during raids on shelters and hospitals during the war and at checkpoints that stopped families fleeing their homes amid military operations. Hundreds of people have been released during the war.
Monday’s release would still leave about 1,300 Palestinians from Gaza in Israeli custody, according to a September count of detainees by the Israeli human rights group HaMoked.
According to the Hamas list, the Gaza detainees to be released include two women, six teenagers under the age of 18 and about 30 men over the age of 60. Most of the detainees are being held under new laws passed in Israel at the beginning of the war, which allow Palestinians to be detained for months as “unlawful combatants” without judicial review or access to lawyers. Rights groups, the United Nations, and detainees have reported routine abuses in detention facilities, including beatings and inadequate food. Israel says it adheres to its prison standards under the law and investigates any reports of violations.
The list of 250 convicted prisoners to be released, aged between 19 and 64, includes 159 linked to Fatah, the political party that runs the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, and 63 linked to Hamas. The remainder are unaffiliated or belong to other groups.
Many were arrested in the early 2000s, sparking the eruption of the Second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising fueled by anger over the occupation that continues despite years of peace talks. The uprising turned bloody, with Palestinian armed groups carrying out attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis, and Israeli forces killing several thousand Palestinians.
Some were convicted in military trials, which rights advocates say often lacked due process. Others have been imprisoned in administrative detention for months or years without trial. Israel says the practice, widely criticized by Palestinians and human rights groups, is needed to prevent attacks and avoid sharing sensitive intelligence.
The list does not include about half a dozen highest-profile prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, Hassan Salameh, Ahmed Sadat and Abbas al-Sayed. Barghouti is widely seen as a potential successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel’s list includes:
Raed Shaikh
Sheikh, a 51-year-old Palestinian police officer and Fatah member, was sentenced to multiple life terms in 2000 for his role in the murder of two Israeli soldiers who were attacked by a mob at a West Bank police station, with one being thrown from the station window.
Mahmoud Issa
Issa, a 57-year-old Hamas commander who was jailed for life before the Oslo interim peace accords in 1993, was one of those convicted of the kidnapping and murder of a 29-year-old Israeli border police officer that year. His more than three decades behind bars were spent in solitary confinement, conditions that have made him an icon among prisoner rights advocates.
Shamsneh Bhai
Two brothers – 56-year-old Mohammed and 62-year-old Abdel Jawad Shamsaneh – were sentenced to multiple life terms for their roles in a 1993 knife attack that killed Israeli hitchhikers, whose bodies were later found along the Jerusalem River during the first Palestinian intifada in 1990.
Iyad Fatafat
Fatafah, a 47-year-old Fatah member serving a life sentence, was one of two men convicted of stabbing American tourist Christine Luken and a friend who were hiking with her to death, and survived.
__ Associated Press writer Lee Keith in Cairo contributed to this report.